‘It’s going to be tough’: Virginia Republicans brace for a grim November
Virginia Republicans are bracing for November with a growing sense of doom. The GOP already faced a tough climate in this year’s elections thanks to tech billionaire Elon Musk’s war on the state’s robust federal workforce. Then came a bitter, intraparty feud over Republicans’ lieutenant governor candidate. Now, some Republicans are privately expressing concerns about the viability of their gubernatorial nominee, Winsome Earle-Sears. “With the demographics of Richmond, in an off year with the Republican White House, it’s going to be tough,” said longtime Virginia Republican strategist Jimmy Keady. “To be a Republican to win in Virginia, you have to run a very good campaign. You’ve got to have [tailwinds] and the Democratic candidate’s got to make a mistake.”
Virginia’s budget surplus grows as revenues beat expectations despite national slowdown
Virginia’s general fund revenues rose sharply in April, bucking signs of a national economic cooldown as the state continues to post steady long-time job growth and rake in more tax dollars than projected. Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday that general fund revenues are up 6.3% — nearly $1.5 billion — compared to the same 10-month period last fiscal year. April alone brought in $322.4 million more than the same month in 2024, marking an 8.8% jump.
Youngkin urges vigilance to combat antisemitism
A new executive order will expand Virginia's fight against antisemitism, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Monday night at the Combat Antisemitism Movement's Faith, Freedom, and Legacy: Honoring Virginia’s Jewish Heritage dinner in Richmond. "Antisemitism exists, and we must acknowledge it, we must educate people to it, and we must go to work to eradicate it," Youngkin said at the dinner, held at The Commonwealth Club.
Decline in preschool access continues in Virginia, despite legislative efforts
Virginia has provided thousands of children access to preschool over a year’s time, but the commonwealth continues to trail other states, which are expanding services and providing more kids a chance at early learning. According to the National Institute for Early Education Research’s State of Preschool Yearbook, Virginia has dropped by three spots to 26th in the country in offering preschool access for 3-year-olds, but maintained its 30th place ranking for preschool access for 4-year-olds.
Local food banks have lost 1.4M meals to Trump’s cuts
Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains area is largely rural and conservative, with Donald Trump carrying all but two counties that checker the central and western part of the state in the 2024 election. It is also a place where it has become increasingly difficult for people to find enough to eat. Every free meal counts there, said Michael McKee, the CEO of Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, which is the main provider of food assistance to 25 counties in the region. But after the U.S. Department of Agriculture paused $500 million in funding for programs related to food in March, Blue Ridge and other food banks have been struggling to meet the growing needs of their communities.
Virginia panel aims to put court actions in clear language
In a state where many still live by the adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” the idea of replacing ancient terms of legal procedures in state law feels more than a little daunting, the Virginia Code Commission says. But the commission is going to try, accepting Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell's request to make sure the language that tells non-lawyers how to navigate courts is clear to people who haven’t gone through three years of law school. It could get hairy.
Virginia lawmakers react to proposed federal moratorium on AI regulation
Congress is considering a bill that could leave Virginia, and every other state, powerless to regulate artificial intelligence. You probably know the plot of the 1984 movie The Terminator – a cyborg hitman from the future arrives in the present, sent because of a future war between humans and A-I powered machines. Virginia might be encountering its own unwanted plot twist says State Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, if Congress approves a 10-year moratorium on state regulation of artificial intelligence.
Brighter future? Solar apprenticeships add renewable energy skills to local jobs
A regional partnership working to add solar panels to commercial buildings in the region aims to train young people as they go, developing workforce skills in anticipation of increasing demand for renewable energy-focused jobs in the heart of coal country, where skill sets and energy options are both changing. Virginia ranks eighth in the nation for installed solar capacity, according to the Solar Energies Industry Association, but so far, major renewable energy projects have been clustered in the eastern and southern regions of the state. Increasing the popularity of solar power in the far southwestern corner of the state depends in part on the availability of trained workers…
Yancey: 5 new factors that are shaping the governor’s race
We’re expecting a new Roanoke College poll before the month ends, and that will give us some numerical sense of where Virginia’s governor’s race stands. However, we don’t need polls to tell us about some of the forces that are shaping the contest that will put a woman in the governor’s office for the first time in Virginia history. Some things we knew all along: how voters feel about President Donald Trump, how they feel about Governor Glenn Youngkin, how they feel about lots of other things. Here are five new factors: 1. Spanberger tries to take ‘right-to-work’ off the table, but Earle-Sears presses the attack anyway.
Lewis: Va. statewide GOP nominees refuse to buck Trump in a state where he’s a proven albatross
This is primary season and candidates have to double down on what the truest of your party’s true believers truly believe. The common logic is that you steer as far as you can to the right (for Republicans) or left (among Democrats) to rouse their base voters until they’re ready to chew barbed wire and spit out roofing nails. Then, after the preseason scrimmage is over, it’s time to tack back toward the center — where the dispositive mass of Virginia’s electorate has repeatedly proved it resides — and, if you still can, appear less the wild-eyed zealot and more the measured, moderate and sane candidate of November. But something weird is happening this year…
